82-1050: Lemay or LeMay may refer to: People [ edit ] Curtis LeMay (1906–1990), United States Air Force general Dorothy LeMay , American pornographic actress Harding Lemay (1922–2018), American teleplay writer and playwright Harold LeMay (1919–2000), American collector John D. LeMay (born 1962), American actor Leo Lemay (1935–2008), American educator Leo Lemay (bishop) (1909–1983), American Roman Catholic bishop Luc Lemay , Canadian singer and guitarist Lucille Lemay (born 1950), Canadian archer Lynda Lemay (born 1966), Canadian francophone singer Marc Lemay (born 1951), Canadian politician Martin Lemay (born 1964), Quebec politician Moe Lemay (1962–2024), Canadian ice hockey player Places [ edit ] Lemay, Missouri , United States Museums [ edit ] LeMay - America's Car Museum Companies [ edit ] Lemay (Architects) ,
164-406: A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress , he helped locate the battleship Utah despite being given the wrong coordinates by Navy personnel, in exercises held in misty conditions off California, after which the group of B-17s bombed it with water bombs. In March 1938, LeMay as a member of the 2nd Bombardment Group participated in a good will flight to Buenos Aires. For this flight, the 2nd Bombardment Group
246-1001: A bachelor's degree in civil engineering. While at Ohio State he was a member of the National Society of Pershing Rifles and the Professional Engineering Fraternity Theta Tau . LeMay was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Corps Reserve in October 1929. He received a regular commission in the United States Army Air Corps in January 1930. While finishing at Ohio State, he took flight training at Norton Field in Columbus, in 1931–32. On June 9, 1934, he married Helen Maitland. LeMay became
328-533: A pursuit pilot with his first duty station at Selfridge Field with the 27th Pursuit Squadron . After having served in various assignments in fighter operations, LeMay transferred to bomber aircraft in 1937. While stationed in Hawaii , he became one of the first members of the Air Corps to receive specialized training in aerial navigation. In August 1937, as navigator under pilot and commander Caleb V. Haynes on
410-460: A Canadian architecture firm Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Lemay . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lemay&oldid=1252932056 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
492-544: A SAC hangar full of US nuclear strategic bombers, LeMay found a single Air Force sentry on duty, unarmed. After ordering a mock bombing exercise on Dayton, Ohio , LeMay was shocked to learn that most of the strategic bombers assigned to the mission missed their targets by one mile or more. "We didn't have one crew, not one crew, in the entire command who could do a professional job", noted LeMay. A meeting in November 1948, with Air Force Chief of Staff Hoyt Vandenberg , found
574-527: A conventional mechanized offensive that was by its nature more reliant on industrial output and traditional logistics. In effect, Johnson and Nixon were waging two different wars. Because of his unrelenting opposition to the Johnson administration's Vietnam policy and what was widely perceived as his hostility to McNamara, LeMay was essentially forced into retirement in February 1965. Moving to California, he
656-451: A high priority by assigning the entire 313th Bombardment Wing (four groups, about 160 airplanes) to the task. Aerial mining supplemented a tight Allied submarine blockade of the home islands, drastically reducing Japan's ability to supply its overseas forces to the point that postwar analysis concluded that it could have defeated Japan on its own had it begun earlier. LeMay piloted one of three specially modified B-29s flying from Japan to
738-513: A job longer than a few months. His mother, Arizona Dove ( née Carpenter) LeMay, did her best to hold her family together. With very limited income, his family moved around the country as his father looked for work, going as far as Montana and California . Eventually they returned to his native city of Columbus. LeMay attended Columbus public schools, graduating from Columbus South High School, and studied civil engineering at Ohio State University . Working his way through college, he graduated with
820-512: A liability due to his controversial stance promoting the use of nuclear weapons. After the election, LeMay retired to Newport Beach, California , and he died in 1990 at age 83. LeMay was born in Columbus, Ohio , on November 15, 1906. LeMay was of English and distant French Huguenot heritage. His father, Erving Edwin LeMay, was at times an ironworker and general handyman, but he never held
902-525: A modern, efficient, all-jet force. LeMay's tenure was the longest over an American military command in nearly 100 years. LeMay was instrumental in SAC's acquisition of a large fleet of new strategic bombers , establishment of a vast aerial refueling system, the formation of many new units and bases, development of a strategic ballistic missile force, and establishment of a strict command and control system with an unprecedented readiness capability. All of this
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#1732797160246984-405: A single day, the attack will have served its purpose". The argument was that it was his duty to carry out the attacks in order to end the war as quickly as possible, sparing further loss of life. He also remarked regarding the morality of the air effort against Japan, "I suppose if I had lost the war, I would have been tried as a war criminal ." This opinion was also reported by Robert McNamara in
1066-526: A tactic senior commanders had been preparing for some time, manufacturing and stockpiling incendiary bombs for this purpose. Japanese cities were largely constructed of combustible materials such as wood and paper. Precision high-altitude daylight bombing was ordered to proceed only when weather permitted or when specific critical targets were not vulnerable to area bombing . LeMay commanded subsequent B-29 Superfortress combat operations against Japan, including massive incendiary attacks on 67 Japanese cities and
1148-595: A war with the Soviets and their industry would quickly recover. This committee had been specifically created by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to study the effects of a massive nuclear strike against the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, within weeks, an ad hoc Joint Chiefs committee recommended tripling America's nuclear arsenal, and Air Force Chief of Staff Vandenberg called for enough bombs to attack 220 targets, up from
1230-600: A war." Towards this aim, LeMay delivered the first SAC Emergency War Plan in March 1949 which called for dropping 133 atomic bombs on 70 cities in the USSR within 30 days. LeMay predicted that World War III would last no longer than 30 days. Air power strategists called this type of pre-emptive strike "killing a nation". However, the Harmon committee released their unanimous report two months later stating such an attack would not end
1312-567: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Curtis LeMay Curtis Emerson LeMay (November 15, 1906 – October 1, 1990) was a US Air Force general who implemented an effective but controversial strategic bombing campaign in the Pacific theater of World War II . He later served as Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force , from 1961 to 1965. LeMay joined
1394-401: Is important to recognize, however, that ballistic missile forces represent both the U.S. and Soviet potential for strategic nuclear warfare at the highest, most indiscriminate level, and at a level least susceptible to control. The employment of these weapons in lower level conflict would be likely to escalate the situation, uncontrollably, to an intensity which could be vastly disproportionate to
1476-436: Is important". Aircraft losses on tactical attack missions soared, and Air Force commanders soon realized that their large, missile-armed jet fighters were exceedingly vulnerable not only to antiaircraft shells and missiles but also to cannon-armed, maneuverable Soviet fighters. LeMay advocated a sustained strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnamese cities, harbors, ports, shipping, and other strategic targets. His advice
1558-712: The 3rd Bombardment Division , an upper command echelon of the Eighth Air Force . With five combat bomb wings and 14 heavy bomber groups assigned, it was one of the two largest U.S. air combat organizations during World War II. The 3rd Air Division was activated in September 1943 as an intermediate command and control organization between command and wing levels. It was assigned to VIII Bomber Command, Eighth Air Force . The Division commanded three combat bombardment wings (4th, 13th and 45th), consisting of seven Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomb groups. The addition of
1640-693: The Berlin Airlift in 1948 in the face of a blockade by the Soviet Union and its satellite states that threatened to starve the civilian population of the Western occupation zones of Berlin. Under his direction, Douglas C-54 Skymasters that could each carry 10 tons of cargo began supplying the city on July 1. By late 1948, the airlift was bringing in an average of 5,000 tons of supplies a day with 500 daily flights. The airlift continued for 11 months, with 213,000 flights operated by six countries bringing in 1.7 million tons of food and fuel to Berlin. Faced with
1722-793: The Berlin Airlift . It was briefly elevated to the Major Command level from 3 January 1949 – 21 January 1951. When the Berlin Airlift ended in 1949, the division participated in the Military Assistance Program in England and began an extensive air base construction program through May 1951 and a large number of USAF organizations based in the United Kingdom. With the advent of the Korean War and
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#17327971602461804-644: The Berlin Airlift . He served as commander of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) from 1948 to 1957, where he presided over the transition to an all– jet aircraft force that had a strong emphasis on the delivery of nuclear weapons in the event of war. As Chief of Staff of the Air Force, he called for the bombing of Cuban missile sites during the Cuban Missile Crisis and sought a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam during
1886-584: The Berlin Blockade , the U.S. deployed long-range Boeing B-29 Superfortress strategic bombers to four English East Anglian bases. The 3rd Air Division (Provisional) was activated as part of United States Air Forces in Europe to receive, support and operationally control the B-29 units deployed for training. At this time these units were only expected to take part in 30- to 60-day temporary duty cycles. It
1968-626: The European theatre of World War II until August 1944, when he was transferred to the China Burma India Theater . He was then placed in command of strategic bombing operations against Japan, planning and executing a massive fire bombing campaign against Japanese cities, and Operation Starvation , a crippling minelaying campaign in Japan's internal waterways. After the war, he was assigned to command USAF Europe and coordinated
2050-534: The United States Army Air Corps , the precursor to the United States Air Force, in 1929 while studying civil engineering at Ohio State University . He had risen to the rank of major by the time of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and the United States's entry into World War II. He commanded the 305th Bombardment Group from October 1942 until September 1943, and the 3rd Air Division in
2132-554: The United States Strategic Bombing Survey put the figures at 220,000 people killed. Some 40% of the built-up areas of 66 cities were destroyed, including much of Japan's war industry. LeMay was aware of the implication of his orders. The New York Times reported at the time, "Maj. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, commander of the B-29s of the entire Marianas area, declared that if the war is shortened by
2214-541: The Vietnam War . After retiring from the Air Force in 1965, LeMay agreed to serve as pro- segregation Alabama Governor George Wallace 's running mate on the far-right American Independent Party ticket in the 1968 United States presidential election . The ticket won 46 electoral votes, 5 states, and 13.5% of the popular vote, a strong tally for a third party campaign, but the Wallace campaign came to see LeMay as
2296-476: The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki . This included the firebombing of Tokyo —known in official documents as the "Operation Meetinghouse" air raid on the night of March 9–10, 1945—which proved to be the single most destructive bombing raid of the war. For this first attack, LeMay ordered the defensive guns removed from 325 B-29s, loaded each plane with Model M-47 incendiary clusters , magnesium bombs, white phosphorus bombs, and napalm , and ordered
2378-623: The 2003 documentary The Fog of War , although after the war the Allies did not prosecute any German or Japanese military personnel for bombing civilian targets. Presidents Roosevelt and Truman supported LeMay's strategy, referring to an estimate of one million Allied casualties if Japan had to be invaded . Japan had intentionally decentralized 90% of its war-related production into small subcontractor workshops in civilian districts, making remaining Japanese war industry largely immune to conventional precision bombing with high explosives . As
2460-811: The 3rd Air Division to enter combat in SEA were the tanker forces under Young Tiger. In June 1965, Arc Light B-52s struck suspected Viet Cong targets in South Vietnam , commencing the first SAC combat missions. B-52s began striking targets in North Vietnam on 11 April 1966; the initial attack against the Mu Gia Pass marked the largest single bomber raid since World War II. By late 1969, most Arc Light operations staged from U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield , Thailand , while others were mounted from Kadena Air Base , Okinawa and Andersen. Andersen AFB remained
2542-412: The 92nd and 93rd Combat Bomb Wings in 1944 and additional bomb groups to the other wings increased the number of combat groups to fourteen. Between May 1944 and September 1944 the division operated both B-17 Flying Fortress (nine groups) and Consolidated B-24 Liberator (five groups) aircraft, before converting to an all-B-17 organization for the remainder of the war. In September 1944 the 66th Fighter Wing
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2624-696: The Cherbourg Peninsula immediately behind the landing beaches. After V-E Day, the 3rd Air Division briefly became part of the United States Air Forces in Europe . As former Eighth Air Force units were withdrawn from Europe and returned to the United States during the summer and fall of 1945, the Division was assigned to VIII Fighter Command and controlled a mixture of bombardment and fighter groups before itself being inactivated on 21 November 1945. In August 1948, in response to
2706-511: The Galapagos islands. By the end of 1940, he was stationed at Westover Air Reserve Base , as the operations officer of the 34th Bombardment Group . War brought rapid promotion and increased responsibility. When his crews were not flying missions, they were subjected to relentless training, as LeMay believed that training was the key to saving their lives. "You fight as you train" was one of his cardinal rules. It expressed his belief that, in
2788-565: The LeMay legend, and remains widely attributed to him ever after. Some military historians have argued that LeMay's theories were eventually proven correct. Near the war's end in December 1972, President Richard Nixon ordered Operation Linebacker II , a high-intensity Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps aerial bombing campaign, which included hundreds of B-52 bombers that struck previously untouched North Vietnamese strategic targets, including heavy populated areas in Hanoi and Haiphong. Linebacker II
2870-574: The Soviets and Chinese more directly into the war. In his 1965 autobiography (co-written with MacKinlay Kantor ), LeMay is quoted as saying his response to North Vietnam would be to demand that "they've got to draw in their horns and stop their aggression, or we're going to bomb them back into the Stone Age . And we would shove them back into the Stone Age with Air power or Naval power—not with ground forces". LeMay subsequently rejected misquotes of
2952-518: The U.S. Army had even reorganized its combat divisions to fight land wars on irradiated nuclear battlefields, developing short-range atomic cannon and mortars in order to win appropriations . The United States Navy in turn proposed delivering strategic nuclear weapons from supercarriers intended to sail into range of the Soviet air defense forces. Of all these various schemes, only LeMay's command structure of SAC survived complete reorganization in
3034-405: The U.S. in September 1945 , in the process breaking several aviation records, including the greatest USAAF takeoff weight, the longest USAAF non-stop flight, and the first ever non-stop Japan–Chicago flight. One of the pilots was of higher rank: Lieutenant General Barney M. Giles . The other two aircraft used up more fuel than LeMay's in fighting headwinds, and they could not fly to Washington, D.C.,
3116-524: The US, and carried five states for a total of 46 electoral votes . 3rd Air Division The 3rd Air Division (3d AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command , assigned to Fifteenth Air Force , being stationed at Hickam AFB , Hawaii . It was inactivated on 1 April 1992. The 3rd Air Division was created in England during World War II as
3198-444: The United Kingdom. Strategic Air Command (SAC) had activated the 7th Air Division a few days earlier to control its forces deployed in Europe. SAC's intent in activating a separate headquarters was to maintain control of these forces by keeping them out of the control of the theater commander and avoid what it regarded as the misuse of its forces in the Korean War , in which its bombers had been kept from striking strategic targets by
3280-599: The autumn of 1943 led the Eighth Air Force to limit missions to targets within escort range. Finally, with the deployment in the European theater of the P-51 Mustang in January 1944, the Eighth Air Force gained an escort fighter with range to match the bombers. In a discussion of a report into high abort rates in bomber missions during World War II, which Robert McNamara suspected was because of pilot cowardice, McNamara described LeMay's character: One of
3362-499: The basis for the "It wouldn't dare" comment. Sweeney stated that a similar incident occurred in 1944 when a B-29 crew chief reminded General LeMay of his lit cigar while LeMay was undergoing B-29 familiarization with (then-Colonel) Paul Tibbets ' 509th Composite Group . Despite his uncompromising attitude regarding performance of duty, LeMay was also known for his concern for the physical well-being and comfort of his men. LeMay found ways to encourage morale, individual performance, and
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3444-545: The bombers to fly in streams at 5,000 to 9,000 feet (1,500 to 2,700 m) over Tokyo. LeMay described Operation Meetinghouse by saying "the US had finally stopped swatting at flies and gone after the manure pile". The first pathfinder airplanes arrived over Tokyo just after midnight on March 10 and marked the target area with a flaming "X". In a three-hour period, the main bombing force dropped 1,665 tons of incendiary bombs, killing 100,000 civilians, destroying 250,000 buildings, and incinerating 16 square miles (41 km ) of
3526-463: The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army General Maxwell Taylor . At the time, budget constraints and successive nuclear war fighting strategies had left the armed forces in a state of flux. Each of the armed forces had gradually jettisoned realistic appraisals of future conflicts in favor of developing its own separate nuclear and nonnuclear capabilities. At the height of this struggle,
3608-704: The changing reality of Cold War -era conflicts. LeMay was not an enthusiast of the ICBM program, considering ballistic missiles to be little more than toys and no substitute for the strategic nuclear bomber force. Though LeMay lost significant appropriation battles for the Skybolt ALBM and the proposed Boeing B-52 Stratofortress replacement, the North American XB-70 Valkyrie , he was largely successful at expanding Air Force budgets. Despite LeMay's disdain for missiles, he did strongly support
3690-499: The chaos, stress, and confusion of combat (aerial or otherwise), troops or airmen would perform successfully only if their individual acts were second nature, performed nearly instinctively due to repetitive training. Throughout his career, LeMay was widely and fondly known among his troops as "Old Iron Pants", and the "Big Cigar". When the U.S. entered World War II in December 1941 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , LeMay
3772-530: The city. Aircrews at the tail end of the bomber stream reported that the stench of burned human flesh permeated the aircraft over the target. Precise figures are not available, but the strategic bombing campaign against Japan, directed by LeMay between March 1945 and the Japanese surrender in August 1945, may have killed more than 500,000 Japanese civilians and left five million homeless. Official estimates from
3854-453: The commanders was Curtis LeMay—Colonel in command of a B-24 [ sic ] group. He was the finest combat commander of any service I came across in war. But he was extraordinarily belligerent, many thought brutal. He got the report. He issued an order. He said, 'I will be in the lead plane on every mission. Any plane that takes off will go over the target, or the crew will be court-martialed.' The abort rate dropped overnight. Now that's
3936-521: The division switched from "Air Mail" B-47 / KC-97 to "Reflex" B-52 / KC-135 alert forces, again with aircraft and crews furnished in deployed status from U.S. based SAC wings. In 1965, it became heavily involved in Arc Light and Young Tiger operations in the Far East and SE Asia (SEA). Strategic Air Command wings in the U.S. furnished the aircrews and aircraft for these operations. The first elements of
4018-563: The failure of its blockade, the Soviet Union relented and reopened land corridors to the West. Though LeMay is sometimes publicly credited with the success of the Berlin Airlift, it was, in fact, instigated by General Lucius D. Clay when Clay called LeMay about the problem. LeMay initially started flying supplies into Berlin, but then decided that it was a job for a logistics expert and he found that person in Lt. General William H. Tunner , who took over
4100-402: The famous "Stone Age" quote. Later, in a Washington Post interview LeMay said that "I never said we should bomb them back to the Stone Age. I said we had the capability to do it. I want to save lives on both sides". Etymologyst Barry Popik cites multiple sources (including interviews with LeMay) for various versions of both quotes from LeMay. Nevertheless, the "should" quote remained part of
4182-452: The firebombing campaign took effect, Japanese war planners were forced to expend significant resources to relocate vital war industries to remote caves and mountain bunkers, reducing production of war material. LeMay also oversaw Operation Starvation , an aerial mining operation against Japanese waterways and ports that disrupted Japanese shipping and logistics . Although his superiors were unsupportive of this naval objective, LeMay gave it
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#17327971602464264-686: The grounds that a third-party candidacy might hurt Nixon's chances at the polls. (By coincidence, Wallace had served as a sergeant in a unit commanded by LeMay during World War II before LeMay had Wallace transferred to the 477th Bombardment Group.) In 1968 LeMay threw his support to Wallace and became his vice-presidential running mate on the American Independent Party ticket. The campaign saw Wallace's record on racial segregation heavily scrutinized. Wallace's staff began to consider LeMay to be "politically tone-deaf" as LeMay made several comments at campaign events speculating about
4346-596: The growing Cold War threat of the Soviet Union , the U.S. and UK agreed to an even greater U.S. military presence in the United Kingdom. The resulting growing size and complexity of the American military presence required a larger command and organizational structure, that could meet the needs of the increased operations. The 3rd Air Division was inactivated on 1 May 1951. In its place United States Air Forces Europe activated Third Air Force to command its units in
4428-920: The kind of commander he was. In August 1944, LeMay transferred to the China-Burma-India theater and directed first the XX Bomber Command in China and then the XXI Bomber Command in the Pacific. LeMay was later placed in charge of all strategic air operations against the Japanese home islands. LeMay soon concluded that the techniques and tactics developed for use in Europe against the Luftwaffe were unsuitable against Japan. His Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers flying from China were dropping their bombs near their targets only 5% of
4510-583: The merely unfortunate." Life magazine reported that LeMay once took the co-pilot's seat of a SAC bomber to observe the mission, complete with lit cigar. When asked by the pilot to put out the cigar, LeMay asked why. When the pilot explained that fumes inside the fuselage could explode, LeMay growled, "It wouldn't dare". The incident was used as the basis for a fictional scene in the 1955 film Strategic Air Command . In his controversial and factually disputed memoir War's End , Major General Charles Sweeney related an alleged 1944 incident that may have been
4592-411: The naval blockade and, after the end of the crisis, suggested that Cuba be invaded anyway, even after the Soviets agreed to withdraw their missiles. Kennedy refused LeMay's requests, and the naval blockade was successful. The memorandum from LeMay, Chief of Staff, USAF, to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, January 4, 1964, illustrates LeMay's reasons for keeping bomber forces alongside ballistic missiles: "It
4674-649: The newly formed 3rd Air Division . He personally led several dangerous missions, including the Regensburg section of the Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission of August 17, 1943. In that mission, he led 146 B-17s to Regensburg , Germany , beyond the range of escorting fighters , and, after bombing, continued on to bases in North Africa , losing 24 bombers in the process. The heavy losses in veteran crews on this and subsequent deep penetration missions in
4756-483: The operational aspects of the Berlin Airlift. In 1948, he returned to the U.S. to head the Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Offutt Air Force Base , replacing Gen George Kenney . When LeMay took over command of SAC, it consisted of little more than a few understaffed B-29 bombardment groups left over from World War II. Less than half of the available aircraft were operational, and the crews were undertrained. Base and aircraft security standards were minimal. Upon inspecting
4838-402: The original aggravation. The use of ICBMs and SLBMs is not, therefore, a rational or credible response to provocations which, although serious, are still less than an immediate threat to national survival. For this reason, among others, I consider that the national security will continue to require the flexibility, responsiveness, and discrimination of manned strategic weapon systems throughout
4920-634: The original goal. Their pilots landed in Chicago to refuel. LeMay's aircraft had sufficient fuel to reach Washington, but he was directed by the War Department to join the others by refueling at Chicago. After World War II, LeMay was already thinking about deterrence theory and how the next war would be fought. He was briefly transferred to The Pentagon as deputy chief of Air Staff for Research & Development. In 1947, LeMay returned to Europe as commander of USAF Europe , heading operations for
5002-490: The perception that some American voters had of the Wallace-LeMay ticket. The "bomb them back to the stone age" comment received significant publicity, but LeMay disclaimed the comment, saying in a later interview: "I never said we should bomb them back to the Stone Age. I said we had the capability to do it". The Wallace-LeMay AIP ticket received 13.5% of the popular vote, higher than most third party candidacies in
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#17327971602465084-409: The possibility of nuclear war, including the press conference where Wallace introduced LeMay as his running mate, where LeMay voiced his belief that there were many situations where the use of nuclear weapons would be efficient and that dropping nuclear bombs would result in positive outcomes for the environment. LeMay's arguments that the American public had a "phobia" of atomic weapons failed to change
5166-500: The previous 70. Upon receiving his fourth star in 1951 at age 44, LeMay became the youngest American four-star general since Ulysses S. Grant . He would also become the longest serving person in that rank in American military history. In 1954 LeMay remarked to pilot Hal Austin, whose plane had been damaged by a MiG-17 while on a reconnaissance mission over the Soviet Union , "Well, maybe if we do this overflight right, we can get World War III started". Hal Austin assumed that LeMay
5248-666: The primary base for SAC deployed forces from the U.S., however, and aircraft and crews were sent from Guam to Kadena and U Tapao for combat missions. On 1 April 1970 the 3rd Air Division's resources passed to the Eighth Air Force . Effective 1 January 1975, 3rd Air Division again controlled all SAC operations in the Western Pacific , Far East , and Southeast Asia . Additionally, it assumed responsibility for air refueling support of all U.S. military forces in these areas. During Persian Gulf operations in late 1990 through early 1991, it tasked and supported numerous sorties supporting
5330-413: The range of cold, limited, and general war". LeMay's dislike for tactical aircraft and training backfired in the low-intensity conflict of Vietnam , where existing Air Force fighter aircraft and standard attack profiles proved incapable of carrying out sustained tactical bombing campaigns in the face of hostile North Vietnamese antiaircraft defenses. LeMay said, "Flying fighters is fun. Flying bombers
5412-400: The reenlistment rate through a number of means: encouraging off-duty group recreational activities, instituting spot promotions based on performance, and authorizing special uniforms, training, equipment, and allowances for ground personnel as well as flight crews. On LeMay's departure, SAC was composed of 224,000 airmen, close to 2,000 heavy bombers, and nearly 800 tanker aircraft. LeMay
5494-447: The region came under its jurisdiction. It also supported air refueling needs of all United States military agencies operating in or transiting the region. In mid-1958, the deployment of entire SAC wings to Guam was replaced by an " Air Mail" alert program, whereby several Boeing B-47 Stratojet wings in the U.S. maintained a specific number of B-47s and KC-97s at Andersen AFB to meet both routine and alert requirements. In April 1964,
5576-642: The theater commander. The 3rd Air Division was activated again at Andersen Air Force Base , Guam in June 1954 as the headquarters for all SAC units in the Pacific. The division replaced the Far East Air Forces Bomber Command (Provisional)]], which was simultaneously discontinued at Yokota Air Base , Japan. In addition to the strategic bomber force, the division exercised operational control over numerous deployed tactical components, and all Strategic Air Command (SAC) operations in
5658-536: The time. Operational losses of aircraft and crews were unacceptably high owing to Japanese daylight air defenses and continuing mechanical problems with the B-29. In January 1945, LeMay was transferred from China to relieve Brigadier General Haywood S. Hansell as commander of the XXI Bomber Command in the Marianas . He became convinced that high-altitude precision bombing would be ineffective, given
5740-479: The two men agreeing the primary mission of SAC should be the capability of delivering 80% of the nation's atomic bombs in one mission. At the Dualism Conference in December 1948, the Air Force leadership rallied behind LeMay's position that the service's highest priority was to deliver the SAC atomic offensive "in one fell swoop telescoping mass and time". "To LeMay, demolishing everything was how you win
5822-570: The use of military space programs to perform satellite reconnaissance and gather electronic intelligence. For comparison, the US Army and Navy frequently suffered budgetary cutbacks and program cancellations by Congress and Secretary McNamara. During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, LeMay clashed again with U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Defense Secretary McNamara, arguing that he should be allowed to bomb nuclear missile sites in Cuba . He opposed
5904-510: The usually cloudy weather over Japan. Furthermore, bombs dropped from the B-29s at high altitude (above 20,000 feet (6,100 m)) were often blown off of their trajectories by a consistently powerful jet stream over the Japanese home islands, which dramatically reduced the effectiveness of the high-altitude raids. Because Japanese air defenses made daytime bombing below jet stream-affected altitudes too perilous, LeMay finally switched to low-altitude nighttime incendiary attacks on Japanese targets,
5986-503: Was a major in the United States Army Air Forces (he had been a first lieutenant as recently as 1940), and the commander of a newly created B-17 Flying Fortress unit, the 305th Bomb Group . He took this unit to England in October 1942 as part of the Eighth Air Force , and led it in combat until May 1943, notably helping to develop the combat box formation. In September 1943, he became the first commander of
6068-624: Was appointed Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force in July 1957, serving until 1961. Following service as USAF Vice Chief of Staff (1957–1961), LeMay was made the fifth Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force on the retirement of Gen Thomas White . His belief in the efficacy of strategic air campaigns over tactical strikes and ground support operations became Air Force policy during his tenure as chief of staff. As Chief of Staff, LeMay clashed repeatedly with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, Air Force Secretary Eugene Zuckert , and
6150-479: Was approached by conservatives to challenge moderate Republican Thomas Kuchel for his seat in the United States Senate in 1968, but he declined. For the 1968 presidential election , LeMay originally supported former Republican Vice President Richard Nixon; he turned down two requests by former Alabama Governor George Wallace to join his newly formed American Independent Party , that year, on
6232-469: Was assigned directly to the division for fighter support. The bomb groups were engaged in strategic bombardment combat operations against Axis targets in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). During the weeks immediately preceding the invasion of France , division aircraft bombed tactical targets such as German communications centers and lines of support, and on 6 June 1944 hit targets on
6314-636: Was awarded the Mackay Trophy in 1939. For Haynes again, in May 1938 he navigated three B-17s 620 nmi (710 mi; 1,150 km) over the Atlantic Ocean to intercept the Italian liner SS Rex to illustrate the ability of land-based airpower to defend the American coasts. In 1940 he was navigator for Haynes on the prototype Boeing XB-15 heavy bomber, flying a survey from Panama over
6396-709: Was followed by renewed negotiations that led to the Paris Peace Agreement , appearing to support the claim. However, consideration must be given to significant differences in terms of both military objectives and geopolitical realities between 1968 and 1972, including the impact of Nixon's recognition and exploitation of the Sino-Soviet split to gain a "free hand" in Vietnam and the shift of Communist opposition from an organic insurgency (the Viet Cong ) to
6478-579: Was formed at RAF Marham in Norfolk, and on 23 August 1948, the provisional title was dropped, and on 8 September the headquarters moved into quarters at Bushy Park in London and remained there until April 1949 when it moved to the Victoria Park Estate, South Ruislip . It also provided aircraft maintenance support at RAF Burtonwood (Cheshire) for Douglas C-54 Skymaster aircraft used in
6560-502: Was ignored. Instead, an incremental policy, Operation Rolling Thunder , was implemented that focused on limited interdiction bombing of fluid enemy supply corridors in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. This limited campaign failed to destroy significant quantities of enemy war supplies or diminish enemy ambitions. Bombing limitations were imposed by President Lyndon Johnson for geopolitical reasons, as he surmised that bombing Soviet and Chinese ships in port and killing Soviet advisers would bring
6642-520: Was joking, but years later, after LeMay retired, Austin saw him again and "brought up the subject of the mission we had flown. And he remembered it like it was yesterday. We chatted about it a little bit. His comment again was, 'Well, we'd have been a hell of a lot better off if we'd got World War III started in those days'". In 1956 and 1957 LeMay implemented tests of 24-hour bomber and tanker alerts, keeping some bomber forces ready at all times. LeMay headed SAC until 1957, overseeing its transformation into
6724-487: Was protected by a greatly enhanced and modernized security force, the Strategic Air Command Elite Guard . LeMay insisted on rigorous training and very high standards of performance for all SAC personnel, be they officers, enlisted men, aircrews, mechanics, or administrative staff, and reportedly commented, "I have neither the time nor the inclination to differentiate between the incompetent and
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